EXTRACTING VALUE FROM PROCUREMENT PROCESSES: A LOOK AT ONE OF THE BIGGEST CASH BURNERS FOR HOSPITALS -

Medical Supplies is one of the highest cost component item in a hospital’s total operating expense. It’s no secret that the medical industry has been facing major challenges in procurement even before the coronavirus looming over their heads. Epidemic has severely impacted the revenues and bottom line for most of the hospitals and it has brought the focus on procurement like never before. Let us jump straight into the heart of the matter and find out why procurement is one of the most tasking jobs in a hospital/ medical institution:

Medical Procurement is complex and inefficient

Purchase Managers have to deal with hundreds of vendors, leading to high inefficiencies actualized in the form of intolerable turnaround times. Patient care gets affected and the long-term consequences of that are not lost on hospital revenue.

For an industry like healthcare, time is everything. Inventory losses are one side of the coin, though. Fuelled by the risk of patient negligence, excess stock procurement now becomes a big challenge. Having orders fulfilled by suppliers while managing costs and controlling quality for every item you purchase is another one. Other reasons for this ‘hassle’ include lack of actionable data for Purchase Planning and lack of access to information for sound decision-making. Huge SKUs, multiple vendors and manual processes – the perfect recipe for revenue leakage and operational inefficiencies due to supply chain mismanagement.

Transforming Medical Procurement: MEDIKABAZAAR VPO

Medikabazaar, India’s largest online B2B portal for medical supplies, has introduced a unique, India specific solution, Value Procurement Organization (VPO) as a part of its transformational initiatives. What Medikabazaar VPO does is that it offers a convenient one-stop solution for all medical supplies procurement needs of its partner hospitals.

Among the prime benefits hospitals avail are these:

• Significant procurement cost savings, to the effect of 10-30%, which boil down to around 8% of total hospital OPEX.

• The hassle of dealing with hundreds of vendors is now replaced with just one credible, hassle-free partnership

• India’s largest product catalogue ensures a wide array of product options available round the year, PAN India.

Availability of alternatives translate into faster access to critical supplies in emergency scenarios. Medikabazaar’s innovative product ranges sourced internationally and exclusive tie-ups with some of the industry leading names like Roche and Nipro for their products adding uniqueness to the proposition.

VPO’s operational benefits are manifold: improved supply chain management, huge man-hour savings, last-mile delivery through our everexpanding on-ground logistics team, the MBGo, was efficient enough to operate full-fledged during the entire pandemic, also reducing TAT and enabling agile serviceability. Finally, partner hospitals can also avail customized branded supplies for patients, doctors and staff – small but notable gestures adding value to every element of the institution.

DESIGNED FOR EASE

Availability of alternatives translate into faster access to critical supplies in emergency scenarios".

Medikabazaar VPO is designed for EASE:

Efficiency in aggregating purchase volume and realize savings,

Assistance in procurement, quality check inspections, and ensuring product reaches on time,

Smart, data-driven decisions with our proprietary AI-ML based Procurement Planning Tool, VIZI, for accurate stock projections (see vizi.medikabazaar.com), which finally makes it

Economic, enabling savings of up to 2030% on medical supplies procurement.